Terence Smyre is UNP’s Journals Project Supervisor and he once bumped into the DMV (yes, the building) when he failed the driver’s test for the first time. Godzilla. If you don't know who he is by now, you've failed a bit at life. Understand I'm not being mean; it's simply an objective truth. I'm not here to beat you up, though. I'm really a helpful guy. So here's the lowdown for you uninitiated: Godzilla is a giant monster—think T. rex meets stegosaurus—created in the 1950s by the Toho Production Company in Japan as a response to the new nuclear realities … Continue reading People Make Publishing: Godzilla

Kathryn Owens is an Associate Project Editor and creates wheel-thrown ceramics.  I often feel like an impostor in an office teeming with bookworms. My childhood was not spent buried in books. I was a mini-adventurer out conquering the woods in my family’s backyard. Books to me weren’t half as exciting. Truth be told, they still aren’t. Curling up with a novel before bedtime or on a rainy day has never been appealing. I don’t host book clubs or swaps. In fact, I shirk the occasional invitation. When asked what’s on my reading list, I usually reply with a simple, lackluster … Continue reading People Make Publishing: Reading with a different purpose

Alison Rold is Assistant Production Manager in EDP and she is a fearless bread baker.  Many years ago, before the birth of the Internet, a friend of mine told me that he was delivering a lot of king cakes from New Orleans. I had no idea what a king cake was, but I was intrigued, thinking maybe it was some elaborate sheet cake. I went to the library and found a book with a picture of one. Then I hunted down a king cake recipe in another book. It didn’t look like a cake at all. It looked like a … Continue reading People Make Publishing: Press King Cakes

November 21, 2013

The Settlers: Shirley Thornton, Erica Corwin, Terry “the Bandit” Boldan, Nathan Putens, Leif Milliken

Shirley Thornton didn’t make any significant plays for the second week in a row, thus solidifying Terry “the Bandit” Boldan’s overall wins for 2013. However, Boldan, too, was unable to scrape together the points necessary for a win. Cue Leif Milliken, one of the group’s unsung heroes of 2013. Known for his ability to strategize with the best of ’em, Milliken has found himself coming up short in more contests than he would care to admit. But not this day. This day Milliken would take home the coveted Sheep with gusto.

The point totals say it all: Thornton—5, Boldan and Putens—6, Corwin—7, Milliken—10 (duh). Most would consider a 3-point margin of victory hefty; Milliken would consider it necessary and proper. In fact, Milliken’s win could be considered one of the slickest I’ve witnessed.

What usually takes an hour would only take Milliken 30 minutes. He effectively and efficiently settled, built, improved, and rolled. On any other day Corwin might have taken home the Sheep trophy. That she managed to build up 7 points is more than noteworthy. Corwin’s play was swift in its own right—but not swift enough.

Despite the notable W, this win would not do much for Milliken’s 2013 total wins (6), still leaving him 5 out from the leader, Boldan (11). It’s too late for Milliken to take 2013, but if wins like these become a more frequent affair, 2014 may be in his favor. Thornton still has a chance to tie Boldan for 2013 total wins, but it will take every bit of settler’s knowledge to do so.

November 28, 2013, Happy Thanksgiving!

The Settlers: No one. Families and feasts are more important than settling . . . sometimes.

Continue reading “Settlers of Catan: Meet the Settlers”

Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013

The settlers: Shirley Thornton, Nathan Putens, Terry “the Bandit” Boldan, and I.

A small crowd gathered, warranting a small board. It was the smaller field of play that would lead to Shirley Thornton’s first victory in months. A sly one, that Thornton. She slowly built settlements, civilizations, and the longest road (uncontested); an abundance of resources seemed to flow her way. As a new member to the group of settlers, I'm told this is how she operates—with stealth and cunning, and a little bit of luck.

It was a long overdue win for Thornton, who claims her victories are few and far between, and not of her own volition. A humble one, that Thornton, and a strong settler nonetheless.

Much of Thornton's luck would come in the form of frequently rolled numbers of benefit to her. To a mathematician or statistician, this makes absolutely no sense, but as a group we’re convinced that one particular number will be rolled with greater frequency than any other for the course of a game. For this game, the most frequent number was 6. Thornton settled on the majority of land holding 6s. I’m not saying Shirley wasn't smart for settling where she settled, but 6s were rolled at an alarming rate.

Although Terry "the Bandit" Boldan played well, he was unable to corral the resources necessary to beat Thornton. He struggled to gain them. He wasn’t alone.

It was a relatively uneventful game for me considering I couldn’t procure the brick resource. This was owing to my lack of settlements on any brick-producing land (I had none), and there was little trade of the commodity. No one else seemed to have it either, although Nathan Putens and I forged a trade agreement on the grounds that he would send brick my way once he procured any. Unfortunately for me, he rarely did.

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013

The settlers: Terry “the Bandit” Boldan, Shirley Thornton, Nathan Putens, Erica Corwin, and I.

Terry Boldan isn’t called the Bandit for nothing. This week he terrorized the competition by drawing and playing a development card that would cause great devastation. Not too far into the game the entire bank supply of rock was depleted. That was when Boldan struck. Only he could invoke such craft, such sly tactics. The card he drew was the monopoly card, and in one fell swoop Boldan held all the rock resource the game could offer. With such surplus of one resource, Boldan made several moves that placed him well into the lead. This would obviously bring him victory.

Continue reading “Settlers of Catan: November Triumphs and Defeats”